title: Evidence of the sensitivity of the MoCA alternate forms in monitoring cognitive change in early Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is an increasing interest in using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test as a monitoring tool in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in both research and clinical settings. Our aim was to investigate the utility of alternate forms of the MoCA in detecting cognitive deterioration in a sample of early AD patients followed longitudinally in an outpatient memory clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five patients with early-stage AD (prodromal or mild dementia) were administered the original version and one of two previously validated alternate forms of the MoCA within an interval of about 1 year. The decline over time and the rate of change of the MoCA were compared to the total score of a standardized neuropsychological assessment battery (Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease; CERAD-Plus). Responsiveness to change was determined by calculating standard response means and the respective effect sizes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty percent of the sample showed a clinical decline on the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale. There was significant deterioration in the MoCA and CERAD total scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrate that the MoCA is capable of detecting change over time and seems to be a valid tool with small to moderate sensitivity for monitoring cognitive change in early AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ana Sofia
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fimm
authors.forename: Simon Thomas
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Ketteler
authors.forename: Joerg Bernhard
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reetz
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D058227:Amyloidogenic Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001284:Atrophy; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D058227:Amyloidogenic Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D016875:tau Proteins